White Heather for Protection

Of Schooling and Gemini

To her shock, the twins simultaneously shot to the ground in a kneeling position.

"Oh forgive us-"

"-ignorant fools! You and-"

"-your brother deserve-"

"more glorious titles, such-"

"-as the Surviving Siblings!"

"The Triumphant Tagteam!"

"You-Know-Who's You-Know-Whats!"

Having had enough, Heather slapped her palms onto the two redheads' mouths to stop the stream of nonsense. She couldn't stop giggling though. Especially at that last one.

"Ugh...those...names...you two...came up...with...were...even...more...horrible!" she forced out between giggles. "Get up off the floor!" she said, dragging them up by their forearms. She rolled her eyes when they gave each other a thumbs up.

Fred grinned at his brother when he saw their new friend laugh. She'd looked so sad as she walked alone towards the train that they'd just had to cheer her up. As the Kings of Joy, they wouldn't stand for that unhappiness. Seeing a job well done, he gave George a thumbs up.

Oblivious to the twins' thoughts, Heather shyly started up a conversation about their upcoming Hogwarts education. She didn't have any friends and Rian didn't exactly count. So she had no clue how to befriend anyone. In fact, if it weren't for these two, she'd never try to initiate anything with anyone. Their affable and joking personalities made it easy for Heather though.

~~~

"My favourite colour?" Heather pondered for a while. "White," she decided, thinking of That Night.

"BO-RING!" the two announced together.

Her eye twitched. "Doesn't matter!" she refuted. White was for safety. White was for Life. White was for blasting that Wretched Evil Man into oblivion. "And yours then? Is it a suitably exciting colour?" she asked sarcastically.

"Neon Orange!" they exclaimed in tandem, then glared at each other.

"Hey, that's mine!" the twins continued in sync.

"No, it's not!" Still copying each other.

Butting their heads together, they began to mock wrestle on the floor as Heather looked on, exasperated.

~~~

"We'll probably be-" George began.

"-in Gryffindor," Fred continued.

"Like all our family," they concluded, nodding.

"Hmm," she hummed casually, "My parents were Gryffindors too, but I've been told I would make a good Slytherin."

Fred gasped in exaggerated horror while George clutched at his chest dramatically.

"You mean all this time we've-"

"-been talking to a snake in-"

"-sheep's clothing? Behind those-"

"-sparkling green eyes and innocent-"

"-smile are a cunning villainess?"

Heather simply smirked slyly.

~~~

The train hooted loudly as it stuttered to a stop. Heather blinked at the sudden cessation of movement. Looking out of the window, she found that they had arrived at another station called Hogsmeade station. The ride went by quicker than expected. She hadn't even been moping about her Rian.

'No,' she realised as she looked at Fred and George, 'it was these two that kept me from sinking into my gloomy thoughts.' A rush of gratitude filled her and she wondered if this was what friendship was like.

The twins were waiting for her at the door of the compartment. Impulsively, she walked to them and grasped each of their hands in hers. Suddenly bashful, she just squeezed their hands briefly and smiled. At their puzzled looks, she just told them to hurry up and then dragged them out of the train.

~~~

The castle was huge. And amazing. And beautiful. It was everything she had ever imagined it would be - and more. If she'd thought the magic was thick in Diagon Alley, then she was positively swimming in it here. Heather couldn't wait to explore the whole castle. Though it would probably take all of her seven years here to do it.

They had to ride boats across the Black Lake to reach the castle grounds. A giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid (Jus' call me Hagrid) escorted them there. She later found out that she'd been half-right; Hagrid was, in fact, a half giant.

The three of them shared a boat with another boy called Lee Jordan. Lee, it seemed, shared much of his sense of humour with the twins. They got on like a house on fire. Heather worried that that would evolve into a castle on fire.

She learned that Fred and George enjoyed confusing others by impersonating each other. Not difficult to do when they were facsimiles of the other. They seemed to like people mixing them up. She hadn't realised that they'd been trying to do that to her, but with Lee present, she witnessed it from an outside perspective. Okay, she knew why they liked to do it now. It was hilarious.

Interestingly, she'd also found out that the twins had a peculiar sense of chivalry. While they'd started rocking the boat at Lee's mention of seasickness, they'd immediately stopped when she stated she couldn't swim. Maybe it was because she was a girl. Or so much tinier than they were. Perhaps both. Regardless, she could see why they would be Gryffindors despite their cunning and wiles.